Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...A bond for the chair and treasurer of a county executive committee shall be filed with the supervisor of elections.... 3 Plaintiff-Appellants also requested an advisory opinion regarding whether they could receive a waiver of 99.097(4), Fla....

...The Secretary of State replied that he could not waive the fee requirement, and plaintiff-appellants originally challenged the constitutionality of this statute as well as Section 103.121(3). While the case currently under review was pending in district court, however, we concluded that Section 99.097(4) violated equal protection concerns embodied in the Constitution. See Fulani v. Krivanek, 973 F.2d 1539, 1547 (11th Cir.1992). In accordance with our holding, the district court in the current matter issued an order permanently enjoining all Florida supervisors of elections from enforcing the aspect of Section 99.097(4) that denies minor political parties the ability to obtain a fee waiver. Based on this injunction, the district court pronounced plaintiff-appellants' challenge to the constitutionality of Section 99.097(4) moot....

...petition forms and submits a certificate to the secretary of state indicating the total number of signatures checked, the number deemed valid, and the geographical distribution. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 100.371(4) (West Supp.1996), Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.097(4) (West Supp.1996)....

...local filing officers, have authority to waive the bonding requirement . . . . with the supervisor of elections. . . . 3 Plaintiff-Appellants also requested an advisory opinion regarding whether they could receive a waiver of 99.097(4), Fla....

...The Secretary of State replied that he could not waive the fee requirement, and plaintiff-appellants originally challenged the constitutionality of this statute as well as Section 103.121(3). While the case currently under review was pending in district court, however, we concluded that Section 99.097(4) violated equal protection concerns embodied in the Constitution. See Fulani v. Krivanek, 973 F.2d 1539, 1547 (11th Cir. 1992). In accordance with our holding, the district court in the current matter issued an order permanently enjoining all Florida supervisors of elections from enforcing the aspect of Section 99.097(4) that denies minor political parties the ability to obtain a fee waiver. Based on this injunction, the district court pronounced plaintiff-appellants’ challenge to the constitutionality of Section 99.097(4) moot....

...KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge: 1 In this ballot-access case, plaintiffs New Alliance Party ("NAP") and Lenora B. Fulani ("Fulani") appeal from the district court's ruling in favor of defendants State of Florida and Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Robin Krivanek ("Krivanek"). The district court held that Fla.Stat. § 99.097(4), which excludes minor political parties from a provision allowing candidates qualifying by petition to waive unduly burdensome signature-verification fees, does not violate the Equal Protection Clause or the First Amendment....

...3 Section 103.021(3) also provides that a minor-party or independent candidate must submit a separate petition to the supervisor of elections for each county from which signatures are solicited. The supervisors then check the signatures to certify their validity. Pursuant to section 99.097(4), the candidate must pay the supervisors "the sum of 10 cents for each signature checked or the actual cost of checking such signature, whichever is less." 2 We have endorsed the constitutionality of conditioning access to the ballot...

...to have verified. 4 Alternatively, by collecting signatures of at least 1.15 percent of the registered voters (rather than the minimum one percent), a candidate is entitled to have the supervisors check the signatures by random sample. See Fla.Stat. § 99.097(1)(b)....

...given under oath to the supervisor, be entitled to have the signatures verified at no charge. However, an oath in lieu of payment of the charges shall not be allowed to verify the signatures on a petition to obtain ballot position for a minor party. Section 99.097(4) (emphasis added)....

...the First Amendment. Fulani filed a timely notice of appeal. DISCUSSION 9 Review is plenary. See East-Bibb Twiggs Neighborhood Assoc. v. Macon Bibb Planning & Zoning Comm'n, 896 F.2d 1264, 1265 (11th Cir.1989). Appellants argue that the provision of section 99.097(4) denying minor-party candidates the fee-waiver option violates the Equal Protection Clause because it is a discriminatory classification that unfairly burdens their fundamental First and Fourteenth Amendment right to associate politi...

...he state has failed to advance a sufficiently important interest that is furthered by this discriminatory classification. 10 Appellees contend that our decision in Libertarian Party, in which we upheld the constitutionality of a different portion of section 99.097(4), controls the disposition of this case....

...ctions, and preventing voter confusion by limiting ballot access to political parties with a significant modicum of support. 11 Because the state has failed to explain how its asserted interests justify the discriminatory classification contained in section 99.097(4), we hold that the fee-waiver provision violates appellants' rights to equal protection in the exercise of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights....

...1274, 1286 , 39 L.Ed.2d 714 (1974)), while the state's interest in ensuring that an independent is "truly independent," id. (quoting Storer, 415 U.S. at 745 , 94 S.Ct. at 1286 ) would not be advanced by a statewide-petition requirement. 14 Finally, we rejected the Libertarian Party's challenge to section 99.097's signature-collection requirement, holding (1) that "Florida's procedures are not impermissibly burdensome as to cost" and (2) "[t]hat minor parties must incur some expenses in accumulating the necessary signatures to qualify for the...

...§ 99.096(2) (West 1982). County election supervisors charge 10 cents per signature to cover the costs of verifying the petitions, but they may use random sampling techniques which reduce the number of signatures checked and therefore the cost. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.097(1)(b) (West 1982). Although filing fees may be waived, there is no provision for waiver of the 10-cent charge for minority parties. Id. at § 99.097(4)....

...at 794 (emphasis added). 18 In Clean-Up '84 v. Heinrich, 590 F.Supp. 928, 932-33 (M.D.Fla.1984), aff'd on other grounds, 759 F.2d 1511 (11th Cir.1985), 6 the District Court for the Middle District of Florida invalidated the same fee-waiver provision of section 99.097(4) that we now consider, as it then applied to organizations proposing ballot initiatives, finding that the provision violated the Equal Protection Clause....

...The district court rejected that argument, noting that the Libertarian Party court had not addressed the fee-waiver provision. Id. at 933. 19 II. The Proper Test for Considering Equal Protection Challenges to Ballot-Access Restrictions 20 Appellants contend that section 99.097(4)'s classification prohibiting minor parties from waiving unduly burdensome signature-verification fees infringes their fundamental First and Fourteenth Amendment rights....

...Marion County Bd. of Voter Registration, 778 F.Supp. 1458, 1462-63 (S.D.Ind.1991) (noting same possible distinction). III. Analysis Under the Anderson Test 28 Even under the less rigorous Anderson test, we conclude that the fee-waiver provision of section 99.097(4) violates appellants' right to equal protection....

...Character and Magnitude of the Asserted Injury 30 We "must first consider the character and magnitude of the asserted injury to the rights protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments that the plaintiff seeks to vindicate." Anderson, 460 U.S. at 789 , 103 S.Ct. at 1570 . Section 99.097(4) explicitly discriminates against minor-party candidates: "[A]n oath in lieu of payment of the charges shall not be allowed to verify the signatures on a petition to obtain ballot position for a minor party." Appellants' asserted inj...

...n List, their undisputed contention is that they would have to expend significant amounts of labor and money to have the list in a usable form, a burden not imposed on the major political parties ") (emphasis added). 42 The state argues that because section 99.097(4) provides the less expensive option of signature verification by random sample upon submission of the signatures of an additional .15 percent of the registered voters, the burden on appellants is only slight....

...45 The problem is that the state has plucked these interests from other cases without attempting to explain how they justify the discriminatory classification here at issue. As the district court in Clean-Up '84 stated, "The Court is troubled by the State's complete failure to justify the distinction 99.097(4) draws...." 590 F.Supp....

...st to being even rationally related to the burden placed on Fulani as a minor-party candidate for President. 55 At oral argument, when pressed by this court to put forward a precise interest advanced by the discriminatory classification contained in section 99.097(4), the state finally asserted that ensuring that a party has a modicum of support "is demonstrated in two ......

...rge when petitioners seek to place an issue on the ballot but allowing the same waiver in the case of a candidate for office. 58 Clean-Up '84, 590 F.Supp. at 932 (emphasis added). 59 We hold, therefore, that under the analysis set forth in Anderson, section 99.097(4) violates appellants' right to equal protection in the exercise of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights....

...iled to justify the discriminatory classification that appellants have challenged. 11 CONCLUSION 60 For the foregoing reasons, we REVERSE the district court's judgment and REMAND with instructions to enjoin defendants from enforcing the provision of section 99.097(4) prohibiting minor-party candidates from taking advantage of the fee-waiver provision upon written certification that paying such fees would impose an undue burden....

...District Judge for the Southern District of Alabama, sitting by designation 1 A "minor political party" is defined as "any group ... which ... does not have registered as members 5 percent of the total registered electors of the state." Fla.Stat. § 97.021(14) 2 Section 99.097, titled "Verification of signatures on petitions," applies also to petitions submitted by independent and minor-party candidates for state office, see Fla.Stat....

...§§ 99.0955 & 99.096, and petitions submitted by organizations seeking to place initiatives on the ballot. See Fla.Stat. § 100.371 3 As Fulani points out, however, this saving is diluted by the practical expenses associated with collecting the additional signatures 4 In a code section similar to section 99.097(4), candidates in major-party primaries who cannot afford the primary filing fees are allowed to qualify for the primary ballot by submitting petitions, which are verified at no charge....

...StatAnn. § 104.36 (West Supp.1985) (as amended Laws 1984, ch. 84-302, § 25 effective July 1, 1984). 2 Clean-Up ’84 v. Heinrich, 582 F.Supp. 125 (M.D.Fla.1984). Clean-Up ’84 also obtained a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Fla.Stat. Ann. § 99.097(4) (West Supp.1985)....

...775.084. In determining the area in which solicitation is prohibited, the 100-yard distance from the polling place shall be measured from the entrance to the room or other area in which the voting equipment or pollworkers are housed. 3 . Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.097(4) provides: 99.097....

...seats in Florida's major party primaries by petition, which defeats Green's argument. Green also complains that Florida charges a verification fee of ten cents per signature or the actual cost of verification, whichever is less. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097(4) (West Supp.1998).13 However, this does not make Florida's petition requirement unreasonable or unduly burdensome for two reasons. First, a candidate also may collect fifteen percent more than the required number of signatures and thereby qualify to pay for only a random sampling of the signatures to be checked. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097(2).14 Second, the verification fee is waived for candidates who swear that the charges impose an undue burden on their resources. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097(4).15 After acknowledging Florida's charges for verifying signatures, this Court in Libertarian likewise pointed out that "Florida provides petitions free of charge," and that although "[c]ounty election supervisors charge 10 cen...

...at 792, whereas Green needed only 4,077 from the Tenth Congressional District. 13 "The supervisor shall be paid the sum of 10 cents for each signature checked or the actual cost of checking such signature, whichever is less...." Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097(4). 14 "When a petitioner submits petitions which contain at least 15 percent more than the required number of signatures, the petitioner may require that the supervisor of elections use the random sampling verification method in certifying the petition." Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097(2). 15 "However, if a candidate ......

...cannot pay such charges without imposing an undue burden on personal resources or upon the resources otherwise available to such candidate ..., such candidate ... shall, upon written certification of such inability given under oath to the supervisor, be entitled to have the signatures verified at no charge." Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097(4). 12 they may use random sampling techniques which reduce the number of signatures checked and therefore the cost." Libertarian, 710 F.2d at 794....

...requisite] number of electors " implicitly supported a mandatory verification of elector signatures by the supervisors of elections, and that signature verification was " necessary to ensure ballot integrity." Id. at 566-67 (emphasis supplied); cf. § 99.097, Fla....

...i.e., no forged, fraudulent, or otherwise invalid signatures are included in attaining the required number of signatures), see art. XI, § 3, Fla. Const. (providing that an initiative petition must be "signed" by the requisite number of "electors"), § 99.097, Fla....

...ida electors and that, inter alia, deceased individuals, fictitious persons, mentally incapacitated persons, and convicted felons whose civil rights have not been restored are promptly removed from the statewide voter registration system. Similarly, section 99.097, Florida Statutes (2007), provides for neutral verification of initiative-petition signatures by the supervisors of elections, and section 100.371(3)(a)-(d), which is not affected by our decision today, states that supervisors of elect...

...The sponsor shall submit signed and dated forms to the appropriate supervisor of elections for verification as to the number of registered electors whose valid signatures appear thereon. The supervisor shall promptly verify the signatures within 30 days of receipt of the petition forms and upon payment of the fee required by s. 99.097....

...To gain access to the ballot, Florida required minor party candidates to submit petitions containing the signatures of at least one percent of the registered voters in the state. The signatures were verified by the supervisors of elections who, pursuant to Section 99.097(4), Florida Statutes, charged the minor party candidates "the sum of 10 cents for each signature checked or the actual cost of checking signatures, whichever is less." Fla.Stat. § 99.097. Section 99.097(4) provided that the supervisor shall waive the signature verification fee for candidates who "cannot pay charges without imposing an undue burden on personal resources." See Fulani, 973 F.2d at 1540....

...The statute, however, specifically exempted minor party candidates from the waiver provision: However, an oath in lieu of payment of the charges shall not be allowed to verify the signatures on a petition to obtain ballot position for a minor party. Fla.Stat. § 99.097(4)....

...Defendant Robin Krivanek is also a nominal party, representing all of the Supervisors of Election in the State of Florida. Clean-Up '84 has challenged two statutes. Section 104.36, Florida Statutes, prohibits solicitation of signatures on petitions within 100 yards of polling places on election day. Section 99.097(4), Florida Statutes, provides that the supervisor of elections must be paid a charge of 10¢ per signature to verify signatures on petitions and, further that no provision can be made for waiver of those charges when petitioners desire to have an issue placed on the ballot....

...to the room or other area in which the voting equipment or pollworkers are housed. Although Plaintiff's witness George Sheldon, who was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1974 to 1982, attempted to show that this law and Fla.Stat. § 99.097(4) were enacted by a disgruntled legislature in reaction to Governor Askew's successful drive to place a financial disclosure law on the ballot through the initiative process, that testimony, although of historical interest, is of little *930 legal significance....

...the polls on election days. Therefore, because Fla.Stat. § 104.36 infringes upon protected speech, and does not achieve its purpose by the least restrictive means, it is invalid. Carey v. Brown, 447 U.S. 455, 100 S.Ct. 2286, 65 L.Ed.2d 263 (1980). Section 99.097(4) Section 99.097(4), Florida Statutes, provides that the supervisor of elections shall be paid a charge of ten cents per signature or the actual cost, whichever is less, for verifying the signatures on petitions....

...ricts to concentrate their collection efforts. Of critical importance to the Court's analysis of this issue is the fact presented to the Court by the pre-trial stipulation of the parties: that Clean-Up '84 cannot pay the charges imposed in Fla.Stat. § 99.097(4) without imposing an undue burden on its resources or any resources available to it. The crucial effect of this stipulation is the State's recognition that, unless section 99.097(4) is declared invalid, there will be no way for Clean-Up '84, no matter how many signatures it collects, to have the issue it proposes placed before the people....

...As mentioned above, a candidate can waive this charge by filing an oath testifying that the charge would impose an undue burden upon the financial resources available to him. Although minor party candidates can not take advantage of the waiver, Fla.Stat. §§ 99.097(1)(b) and (2) provide that in certain circumstances the signatures may be verified by random sampling, a method that effectively reduces the cost....

...ing method permits some slight inaccuracies which cannot be tolerated in the constitutional initiative process. Based on the testimony and exhibits presented at trial, and the arguments and stipulations of counsel, the Court concludes the following: Section 99.097(4) is unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment....

...articular candidate, we conclude, as in Harper, that the laws must be "closely scrutinized" and found reasonably necessary to the accomplishment of legitimate state objectives in order to pass constitutional muster. 405 U.S. at 144, 92 S.Ct. at 856. Section 99.097(4) unquestionably renders access to the ballot by petitioners seeking to amend the Florida constitution dependent upon the wealth of those petitioners and the voters who support them....

...First, the Libertarian Party plaintiffs did not challenge the signature verification requirement; second, as the Court noted, minority party candidates have available to them the random sampling method to reduce signature verification costs; and third, there was no evidence that compliance with section 99.097(4) placed an undue burden upon all resources available to the Libertarian Party plaintiffs. The Court is troubled by the State's complete failure to justify the distinction section 99.097(4) draws between candidates and petitioners seeking to amend the constitution....

...constitution. The lack of any alternative to payment of the signature verification charges forecloses access to the ballot for a large group of citizens and renders ineffective their advocacy of the issue they desire to put before the voters. Thus, section 99.097(4) also impermissibly infringes upon First Amendment guarantees....

...vern." If there is a governmental function "of a higher order," it may well be the conduct of an election that will bring before the voters a proposed amendment desired by the number of voters called for in the Florida constitution. For this reason, section 99.097(4), as applied to Clean-Up '84, can not stand....

...ot verified by supervisors of election in the State of Florida, but who cannot pay the required statutory charges without imposing an undue burden upon their resources or any resources available to them, will suffer irreparable harm unless Fla.Stat. § 99.097(4) is declared invalid....

...The harm suffered by Plaintiffs far exceeds the possible additional administrative expenses to be borne by the State. Therefore, because Fla.Stat. § 104.36 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and because Fla.Stat. § 99.097(4) violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, it is ORDERED: 1....

...§ 104.36 prohibiting the solicitation or attempt to solicit a signature on any petition within one hundred yards from any polling place on the day of any election. 2. Defendant Krivanek and all Supervisors of Election in the State of Florida are enjoined from enforcing the provisions of Fla.Stat. § 99.097(4) requiring any person or organization submitting a petition to have an issue placed on the ballot to pay the sum of ten cents for each signature checked by Defendants or the actual cost of checking such signatures, whichever is less, prov...

...Tripp, Jr., of Tobias Simon, P.A., Miami, for appellant. David E. Cardwell, F.E. Steinmeyer, III, Tallahassee, for appellees. Hugh M. Taylor, Jacksonville, for amicus curiae. MELVIN, Judge. Appellant appeals from a Final Judgment holding that the provisions of Section 99.097(1) and (2), Florida Statutes (1977), are not applicable to initiative petition procedures provided for by Article XI, Section 3, Florida Constitution....

...It was the thrust of the appellant's position in the trial court, and likewise here, that it is entitled to require the various county supervisors of registration to check the signatures appearing upon the initiative petition by a random sample procedure. Section 99.097(1) and (2), Florida Statutes (1977), provides as follows: (1) As determined by each supervisor, based upon local conditions, the checking of names on petitions may be based on the most inexpensive and administratively feasible of eithe...

...d related statutes requiring the payment of certain qualifying fees. The Legislature, having established such petition procedure, may, in its discretion, provide for a random sample type check of such signatures. When this Court is urged to construe Section 99.097(1)(b) and (2), Florida Statutes (1977), as authorizing or mandating a random check of the signatures appearing upon initiative petitions authorized by Article XI, Section 3, Florida Constitution, we must give the statute such reasonable construction as will not bring upon it constitutional destruction. See Burr v. Florida East Coast Ry. Co., 77 Fla. 259, 81 So. 464 (1919). We hold that Section 99.097(1)(a) is consistent with exactitude and accuracy, and is, therefore, not constitutionally offensive if permissively applied to Article XI, Section 3, Florida Constitution, initiative proceedings....

...the same shall attain ballot status, we do not presume that the Legislature intended to enact a law where, by a random or spot check, less than eight percent would become permissible. It has no authority to so legislate. It follows, therefore, that Section 99.097(1)(b) and (2) has no application to Article XI, Section 3, Florida Constitution, relating to proposed initiative amendment to the Constitution. The trial court did not pass upon the constitutionality of Section 99.097(1)(b) and (2), Florida Statutes (1977), and, likewise, we do not reach that question....

...is less. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 12 The plaintiffs in Libertarian needed144,492 signatures statewide, id. at 792, whereas Green needed only 4,077 from the Tenth Congressional District. 14 99.097(4) (West Supp....

...1998).13 However, this does not make Florida’s petition requirement unreasonable or unduly burdensome for two reasons. First, a candidate also may collect fifteen percent more than the required number of signatures and thereby qualify to pay for only a random sampling of the signatures to be checked. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097(2).14 Second, the verification fee is waived for candidates who swear that the charges impose an undue burden on their resources. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097(4).15 After acknowledging Florida’s charges for verifying signatures, this Court in Libertarian likewise pointed out that “Florida provides petitions free of charge,” and that although “[c]ounty election supervisors charge 10 cents per signature to cover the costs of verifying the petitions, ....

...they may use random sampling techniques which reduce the number of signatures checked and therefore the cost.” Libertarian, 710 13 “The supervisor shall be paid the sum of 10 cents for each signature checked or the actual cost of checking such signature, whichever is less . . . .” Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097 (4). 14 “When a petitioner submits petitions which contain at least 15 percent more than the required number of signatures, the petitioner may require that the supervisor of elections use the random sampling verification method in certifying the petition.” Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097 (2). 15 “However, if a candidate ....

...burden on personal resources or upon the resources otherwise available to such candidate . . . , such candidate . . . shall, upon written certification of such inability given under oath to the supervisor, be entitled to have the signatures verified at no charge.” Fla. Stat. Ann. § 99.097 (4). 15 F.2d at 794....

(“Kriva-nek”). The district court held that Fla. Stat. § 99.097(4), which excludes minor political parties from

...ministrative actions against the Lottery Department) (d) Section 39.074 (Decisions of Governor and Cabinet regarding siting of juvenile facilities) (e) Section 72.011 (Actions by taxpayers, resident and non-resident, challenging tax assessments) (f) Section 99.097(5) (Action to contest verification of ballot petition by Department of State if more than one county is involved) (g) Section 102.1685 (Action to contest nomination or election or results thereof when more than one county is involved)...

seek declaratory and injunctive relief. Fla.Stat. § 99.097(4) of the Florida Statutes requires a candidate

...ndamus, ruling that the City was not required to submit the instant petitions to a referendum because, among other reasons, the statutory sums required for verification of signatures had not been paid. To support its ruling, the trial court cited to section 99.097 of the Florida Statutes (2001) which pertains to the Supervisor of Elections' authority to verify signatures: 99.097....

...in the case of a petition to have an issue placed on the ballot, by the person or organization submitting the petition. The trial court concluded that the City was entitled to a summary judgment in its favor because Guetzloe admitted that no fees had been paid. We agree. The plain language of section 99.097(4) states that, where a petition is submitted to a City for the purpose of having an issue placed on the ballot, the supervisor shall be paid in advance the sum of 10 cents for each signature checked by the person or organization submitting the petition....

...r the statute. For this court to hold otherwise would operate to reject basic rules of statutory construction which require the courts to give statutory language its plain and ordinary meaning, as well as undermine the clear public policy purpose of section 99.097, which is to place financial responsibility on the parties requesting that amendment issues be placed on the ballot....

checked and therefore the cost. Fla.Stat.Ann. § 99.097(l)(b) (West 1982). Although filing fees may be